On December 14 and 15, FGV Europe will hold two more webinars as part of the “Toward a Just Transition: An Opportunity for Minas Gerais” initiative. These webinars, called “A Horizon for the Just Transition: from 2021 Onwards,” will be the initiative’s last activity in 2020. The meetings will look at the topics of sustainable economic development in mining regions and cooperation between Brazil and Germany regarding just transition projects.

The first day (December 14) will be dedicated to regional conversion experiences. The speakers will present bilateral cooperation strategies for economic diversification projects for the just transition in mining regions.

The first session will present structural transition experiences in parts of Germany and Minas Gerais, including the Mining Region Conversion Program led and coordinated by the Minas Gerais State Economic Development Secretariat, SEBRAE/MG, FIEMG, BDMG, IBRAM and AMIG.

The participants in the first session, from 9 am to 10:45 am, will be Leonardo Amaral Diniz Medina and Anderson Costa Cabido, of the Economic Development Department of the Brazilian Micro and Small Enterprise Support Service (SEBRAE); Marcus Temburg, the head of the Landscape Development and Planning, Construction and Housing Department of Rhein-Kreis Neuss; Thiago de Carvalho Zakrzewski, commissioner for climate protection and sustainability at the Landscape Development and Planning, Construction and Housing Department of Rhein-Kreis Neuss; and Mariana Pedrosa Nahas, a social and environmental manager and researcher at the Center for Applied Economic and Environmental Modeling Studies (NEMEA) at Cedeplar-UFMG. The meeting’s moderator will be Marco Saverio Ristuccia, senior economist and coordinator of the “Toward a Just Transition: An Opportunity for Minas Gerais” initiative at FGV Europe.

The second session, from 11 am to 12:45 pm, will discuss how to build bilateral cooperation within the scope of just transition projects and initiatives, by identifying opportunities for collaboration between local German and Brazilian organizations, such as “city to city cooperation.” Two specific aspects of potential cooperation, fundamental to the just transition, will be presented: 1) Innovation for sustainability and technology transfer processes; and 2) Just transition planning and governance.

The speakers will be Juliano Alves Pinto, the Minas Gerais state undersecretary for promotion of investment and production chains; Nadine Gerner, senior researcher at the Strategic Water Basin Management Department at the Emschergenossenschaft und Lippeverband Institute; Alexandre Valadares Mello, the director for relations with associates and municipalities at IBRAM; João Teixeira Soares, the business manager of EULA Tecnologia da Informação; and Claudia Diniz, the executive director of the Mining Hub. The session will be moderated by Marco Contardi, FGV Europe project coordinator.

The second day, December 15, from 9 am to 10:30 am, will examine just transition development funding. The speakers will be Sarah Laine de Castro, the special municipal projects coordinator at the Minas Gerais Development Bank (BDMG); Susana Moreira, senior mining specialist at the World Bank; Joana Sarmento Coelho, the investment director of the European Investment Bank; and Paulo Castellari, the CEO of Appian Capital. The meeting’s moderator will be Marco Saverio Ristuccia, senior economist and coordinator of the “Toward a Just Transition: An Opportunity for Minas Gerais” initiative at FGV Europe.

The day’s second session, from 11 am to 12 pm, will look at “The Just Transition: A Roadmap for 2021.” This topic will be discussed by Dirk Augustin, Germany’s consul general in Rio de Janeiro; Cássio Rocha de Azevedo, the Minas Gerais state economic development secretary; Agnes Maria de Aragão da Costa, the chief advisor on regulatory affairs at the Brazilian Mining and Energy Ministry; and Teodomiro Diniz, vice president of the Minas Gerais State Federation of Industry (FIEMG). The moderator will be the director of FGV Europe, Cesar Cunha Campos.

The bilateral technical cooperation initiative “Toward a Just Transition: An Opportunity for Minas Gerais” aims to promote sustainable development trajectories in mining regions in the global context of energy transition, innovation and economic diversification. The initiative is led by Fundação Getulio Vargas, FGV Europe and the German Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro. It is supported by the Germany Foreign Ministry and the state government of Minas Gerais.

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